Istanbul-Armenian musicians: “We need to convey new air to spiritual music”

On September 15, Komitas Chamber Music Hall hosted a vocal music event, which was held on the sidelines of the “My Armenia” Pan-Armenian Festival organized by the RA Ministry of Diaspora. The concert was dedicated to the 25th anniversary of Independence of the Republic of Armenia and featured performances by Istanbul-Armenian singer, Baritone Arthur Baghdasarian and organist, Deacon Edvin Galipian. The musicians are participating in the “My Armenian” Pan-Armenian Festival together for the first time ever.
Arthur Baghdasarian
-This is our second joint concert in Armenia. Our first concert was held last year when we received an offer from the Gagik Tsarukyan Benevolent Foundation to perform spiritual songs at the Saint John the Baptist Church in Abovyan.
This is the first time that organist, Deacon Edvin Galipian and I are participating in the “My Armenia” Pan-Armenian Festival organized by the RA Ministry of Diaspora. During the 2014 “My Armenia” Pan-Armenian Festival, I performed a solo at the Duduk Festival and visited the music school in the city of Gavar. I was very glad that I was participating in that festival. I commend the fact that there is such a pan-Armenian festival that brings us together and helps establish a cultural connection between Armenians of Armenia and the Diaspora. In the future, we would like to perform spiritual songs for Armenian communities around the world so that they listen to and know that spiritual music is not just performed in churches. We also have a plan to present Armenian spiritual music to the world. Our repertoire also includes contemporary spiritual music. We hope to visit Armenia in the future, but during that visit, we will perform with a symphony orchestra.
Deacon Edvin Galipian
-We performed spiritual music at the “My Armenia” Pan-Armenian Festival. We also performed the works of musician Edgar Manas, who has examined the works of Richard Wagner for a long time. If you try to listen to Edgar Manas, it might seem to you that you are listening to Wagner’s music. Manas also has many songs of his own. He is a composer, but unfortunately, in our days, there is no expert of his works. All of his works are kept at the Museum of Literature and Arts after Yeghishe Charents. This is not the first time we are presenting Edgar Manas’s works.
It took us about ten years to work on this program. We have given concerts in several countries. Arthur and I attach great importance to spiritual music. In addition to Manas’s works, we also perform the works of Armenian composer Ara Partevyan. We also perform Komitas’s works. I also play the music of Alan Hovhannes.
Arthur and I have been collaborating for nearly a decade. Throughout this period, we have worked on performing spiritual music. Those ten years have been years of searches. It was hard to find the musical notes of songs. It was also important to study the biographies of the composers so that we could convey the thoughts to the listeners.
I hope we work together again in Armenia or abroad. We need to convey a new air to spiritual music. It is one of the riches of our culture.
Tatev Davtyan
Source: Hayern Aysor